Gold Coast’s Mabior Chol’s career-best five-goal haul in his 50th AFL game has secured the Suns a vital three-point win over West Coast.
The home side held off the quick-finishing Eagles to keep their slim finals hopes alive, Mal Rosas Jnr’s sealer with 15 seconds to play securing a 16.11 (107) to 16.8 (104) win at Metricon Stadium.
The Eagles scored seven goals to three in the final quarter to nearly pinch the win, after trailing by 31 points early in the fourth quarter.
Chol scored five goals, while small forward Izak Rankine had three majors, with Rosas and Jeremy Sharp kicking two apiece for the Suns.
Jack Darling kicked a career-best six goals for the Eagles, with Jack Petruccelle finishing with three and Liam Ryan and Jack Redden two each.
Suns co-captain Touk Miller was again the hosts’ best player with 31 disposals, 16 disposals and 10 tackles.
West Coast rookie Jai Culley had a day to forget, elbowing Suns midfielder Noah Anderson in the head in the second quarter and then limping off in the fourth with a hamstring injury.
The Eagles started brightly with Darling and Jack Redden kicking the visitors to an early lead before the Suns hit back with five unanswered goals to take a 16-point lead into the first break.
West coach Adam Simpson would have hurt his side by blowing a couple of good scoring chances, with Ryan and Connor West to blame.
Gold Coast extended their lead to 37 points when Sharp kicked the Suns’ 10th of the second term, before Ryan’s running goal reduced the margin to 30 at the main break.
Culley added to the Eagles’ woes with his elbow on Anderson, which will almost certainly draw the attention of the match review official.
Camera icon West Coast midfielder Jai Culley collects the ball from Gold Coast’s Noah Anderson. Credit: The West Australian Sport
Two goals from Darling and another from Petruccelle cut the margin to 13 points as the Eagles came out firing for the third term.
Anderson’s collection and carry intelligence before finishing settled the hosts, with Sharp finishing off good work from Rankine to keep the Eagles at bay heading into the final quarter.
Rankine was denied a quarter by the ARC after a sensational hit from the boundary was ruled to have shaved the post.
However, this decision did not cost the Suns, with Chol making the third after the siren after a mark to make the margin 25 points late in the third quarter.
Chol and Darling traded goals at the start of the final quarter before some athletic marking in the backline from Ryan allowed the live Eagles forward to kick home his second and keep the visitors in the hunt.
Darling’s sixth of the day cut the margin to 13 points before Petruccelle launched his third of the run to put the game on the line.
By the time Redden played into the back of a close pack, Gold Coast’s lead had been cut to just two points with just over eight minutes to play.
Chol’s fifth gave the Suns a breather after Jake Waterman fired straight at the player on the mark, in a costly miss for the Eagles.
Waterman cut the margin to less than a goal with less than a minute remaining, but Rosas’ finish ensured Eagle Jamaine Jones’ effort at the buzzer was a mere consolation.